Random Reminiscences of Men and Events eBook

To none of these questions were answers forthcoming,
so he had this information gathered on his own account
with the purpose of helping to make the new plan effective.
His studies revealed the fact that the city where
the new asylum was to be built was so well provided
with such institutions that there were already vastly
more beds for children than there were applicants
to fill them, and that the field was well and fully
covered. These facts being presented to the organizers
of the enterprise, it was shown that no real need for
such an institution existed. I wish I might add
that the scheme was abandoned. It was not.
Such charities seldom are when once the sympathies
of the worthy people, however misinformed, are heartily
enlisted.

It may be urged that doing the work in this systematic
and apparently cold-blooded way leaves out of consideration,
to a large extent, the merits of individual cases.
My contention is that the organization of work in
combination should not and does not stifle the work
of individuals, but strengthens and stimulates it.
The orderly combination of philanthropic effort is
growing daily, and at the same time the spirit of
broad philanthropy never was so general as it is now.

THE CLAIM OF HIGHER EDUCATION

The giver who works out these problems for himself
will, no doubt, find many critics. So many people
see the pressing needs of every-day life that possibly
they fail to realize those which are, if less obvious,
of an even larger significance—­for instance,
the great claims of higher education. Ignorance
is the source of a large part of the poverty and a
vast amount of the crime in the world—­hence
the need of education. If we assist the highest
forms of education—­in whatever field—­we
secure the widest influence in enlarging the boundaries
of human knowledge; for all the new facts discovered
or set in motion become the universal heritage.
I think we cannot overestimate the importance of this
matter. The mere fact that most of the great
achievements in science, medicine, art, and literature
are the flower of the higher education is sufficient.
Some great writer will one day show how these things
have ministered to the wants of all the people, educated
and uneducated, high and low, rich and poor, and made
life more what we all wish it to be.

The best philanthropy is constantly in search of the
finalities—­a search for cause, an attempt
to cure evils at their source. My interest in
the University of Chicago has been enhanced by the
fact that while it has comprehensively considered
the other features of a collegiate course, it has
given so much attention to research.

DR. WILLIAM R. HARPER

The mention of this promising young institution always
brings to my mind the figure of Dr. William R. Harper,
whose enthusiasm for its work was so great that no
vision of its future seemed too large.